Geared locomotive



Feb, 1o, 1925. 1,525,997

v E. S. JOHNSION GEARED LocoMoTIvE y Filed Jan. 22. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb, m, w25-.

. l E. S. JOHNSON GEARED LocoMoTIvE Filed Jan.- 22. '1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 10, 1925,

NITED STATES EDWARD SPENCER JOHNSON, O'F DAVENPORT, IOWA.

GEARED LOCOMOTIVE.

Application filed. I'anualy 22, 1923, Serial No. 614,086.

T 0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD SPENCER JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have `invented a new and useful Improvement in a Geared Locomotive, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to articulated locomotives for railroad use, and more particularly to. means for driving a geared tender in articulated relation to the locomotive, and for mounting the driving means in a frame or housing that has a three point support.

One of the principal objects of my invention resides in the provision of means for utilizing the superheated steam or other motive fluid from the locomotive, which, in addition to actuating the driving wheels of the locomotive, will also actuate a crank and gear mechanism mounted on `the tender for driving the wheels of the latter, and I also utilize the superheated steam or the compressed air in the air-brake system to operate the mechanism for shifting the clutch. Other objects reside in arranging the mechanism in a. compact manner in a triangular frame so that the gear mechanism may be conveniently and compactly mounted below the body of the tender or locomotive, where the space is more or less constricted. Also, it is an object to make the structure in unitary form and to provide means that permit the same to have a universal movement with respect to the truck or underframe. In this connection,` I provide the housing or frame with a three-point support; that is, a fulcrum at the forward'en'd of said frame and the other two points ybeing on the axle of the driven wheel. The foregoing objects I prefer to accomplish in substantially the manner hereafter fully described, and as more particularly pointed out -in the appended claims.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings that form a part of thisl specification, in which- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal side elevation of a locomotive and tender in articulated arrangement showing the application of my invention thereto.

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the tender uncoupled from the locomotive, and drawn to a larger scale than Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is a perspective of the three-point suspension frame and gear housing.

F ig. l is a vertical end eleva-tion of the struct-ure illustrated in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a porton of the suspension frame and its connection with the side-frame, the view being of horizontal section through the side frame.

The locomotive L and tender T may be of any well known type and coupled in the usual manner, the locomotive being provided with driving wheels W, W, that are actuated by pitmans P pivotally or hingedly connected to the adjacent ends of the reciprocating piston rods R having heads H at their opposite ends that operate in the cylinders C, the latter receiving the superheated steam from the boiler through the feed conduits F.

The wheels 5, 5, of the tenderare connected by links 6, 6, so that they revolve in unison. The axles of the two forward wheels are journaled in bearings maintained in pedestals of the well knownand commonly used types so that they need not be shown as they form no part of my present invention. The rear or driving axle 21 is journaled in tubular embossments 20 in a suspension frame to be hereinafter described in detail.

Adjacent the forward portion of the tender and in front of the forward wheels are mounted steam cylinders 7 that receive steam through a feed pipe 8 upon each side of the center line of the tender. Lateral stubs disposed with their axes vertically connect the outer ends of pipes 8 with swivelled connections 10 which are in communication with pipes 11 leading upwardly and forwardly to suitable connections 12 upon the underframe of the locomotive. Leads ofpipe 13 continue from connections 12 in an upwardly inclined direction, and then horizontally alongside the boiler of the locomotlve, and at their forward ends are connected with pipes 14 thaty are transverse longitudinally of the truck and outside wheels 5 there-ot. Adjacent its rear the tender has a combined gear housing and supporting frame mounted underneath the same between side-frames A and secured in posit-ion so as to permit of relative movements between the body, truck and wheels without disturbing the general relation ot the respective elements of the drive mechanism.

rlhe parallel side pieces of the suspension :trame have alining tubular embossments 20 that are formed in its forward portion to -iournal axle 21 ot the rearmost wheels which passes through the side pieces and has the driving wheels 5 secured to it, and at its rear end said fra-me has other alining tubular bearings 31 to journal a crank shaft 23. The forward end of the trame has extensions 32 ot side pieces 30 that converge toward the center of width o't the underframe or truck and merge into a substantially spherical bearing member 33 at the apex ot' the triangle formed by these parts. This bearing member 33 is journaled between upper and lower transverse plates 34 that are suitably seeing-ed to the transverse member that is connected to the upper members ot ,side-trames A. The trames A are oi' somewhat skeleton. form the upper and lower .member of which are connected by spaced pedest-als a that are vertically disposed and act as guides to permit ot up and down movement of the suspension frame but prevent sidewise movement and thereby maintain the desired relation ot the parts of the structure. Such arrangement is described and illustrated in detail in certain patents to Backer No. 1,369,212 and No. 1,360,709; and I have herein disclosed the same schematically in Fig. 5 ot the drawings.

A gear 22 is tixedly secured to drive-axle 21 intermediate its ends and` within Vthe housing portion of suspension trame. In the rear of the housing and between the bearings the driving crank shaft 2S has a toothed pinion 25 loosely mounted on it, and at each end said shaft has a counterbalanced crank 24 secured thereto. Interposed between gear 22 and pinion 25, and in mesh therewith is a small transmission or idle gear 26 that has its spindle mounted in the housing so that all ot said gears and pinions are in train and protect-ed by the housing, and in longitudinal alinement. Shaft 23 is rotated by pitmans or links 18 that connect the outer ends of piston rods 16 with the eccentric lateral pins 27 of the respective cranks 24, so that the reciprocation ot the piston rods will thereby rotate the cranks and their connecting shaft 23.

Mounted on crank shaft 23 within the housing member is a suitable jaw clutch mechanism the loose member 36 whereof is secured to drive pinion 25 and the driving or shiftable member 37 is splined on crankshaft 23 to rotate therewith, A bell-crank SS, or the like, is employed to oscillate the fork or yoke 39 which straddles the usual grooved collar ot the clutch and derives its motion from a piston rod 40 that reciprocates in cylinder 41 suit-ably mounted on the structure. A spring 42 Yfor releasing or returning the piston to normal position' when the mechanism is not driving is interposed between the piston head and the end of the cylinder and surrounds piston rod 40. A pipe line leads from the opposite or torward end oli the cylinder to the cab where the operator may control the clutch by means of a valve to admit pressure fluid or steam to said pipe line tor the purpose of reciprocating the piston and thereby operate the clutch which will connect pinion 25 to the crank-shaft and rotate gear 22 on drive axle 21. through pinion 26. This rotation ot axle 2l will actuate the rear wheel ot the tender which is operatively connected by the links to the other wheels of the tender, and the rotation ot one of the wheels will drive the other wheels of the tender.

It will be obvious the motive fluid from the engine can be controlled from the cab, and when excess power is desired the same can be obtained by admitting steam to cylinders 7 on the tender T, and pipe line 43 can be opened to operate the clutch whenever it is desired to utilize the additional power.

Also it will be noted the crank shaft is back of the driving wheel axle as well as the other axles of the tender or locomotive permitting ot a longer reach for the pitman, and at the same time there will be less relative vertical movement between the rear driving axle and the truck or underframe with which it has universal. connection through the three-point suspension frame, all tending to increase the longevity of the structure.

What I claim is 1. A geared locomotive comprising a truck having` side-sills, a drive-wheel and axle therefor,y a three point suspension Jframe having articulated connection lat its forward end with said truck between the side-sills and the rear portions engaged with said side-sills. bearings in said. frame for said axle, a driving gear-train on said frame having operative connection with said axle, a crank shaft journaled in the rear portion ot said frame. and loosely carrying one of the gears of said train, a clutch operatively connecting said axle and loose gear, a piston and piston head operatively connected to said crank, a cylinder in which said piston head operate-s. and means for supplying steam to said cylinder.

2. A geared locomotive comprising a truck having side-sills, a drive-wheel and axle therefor, a three-point suspension frame having articula-ted connection at its forward end with said truck between the side-sills and the rear portions engaged with said side-sills, bearings in said trame for said axle, a gear mounted upon said axle, a rotatable shaft extending transversely of said frame, a drive gear loose on said shaft, means operatively connecting said shaft and drive gear, an idle gear in mesh with said axle gear and drive gear, cranks at opposite ends of said shaft, piston rodsand heads mounted alongside or' said sills, means ,connecting said rods and cranks, and cylinders in which said piston heads operate.

3. An articulated driving mechanism comprising a plurality of wheeled trucks, independent driving' devices supported by the respective trucks, a motive fluid generative system mounted upon one of said trucks, independent means leading from said generative system to the respective driving devices for conveying the motive fluid thereto; said conveying means having articulated connections between the respective trucks, a crank actuating one of said driving devices, a clutch mechanism connecting said crank and said driving device, and a threepoint suspension frame in which said crank and its associated driving device and axle are mounted.

4. A geared locomotive comprising a truck having side-sills, a drive wheel and axle, a three-point suspension frame having articulated connection at its forward end with said truck between the side-sills and the rear portion engaged with said side-sills,

a crank-shaft. disposed parallel with said i axle, a gear-train interposed between said crankshaft and axle, a housing on said suspension frame in which said gear train is mounted and through which said axle and crank-shaft pass, a clutch mechanism within said housing for operatively connecting said crank-shaft to said gear-train, means for actuating said clutch, and independent means for actuating said crank-shaft.

In witness whereof I have set my hand this 17th day of January, 1923.

EDWARD SPENCER JOHNSON. Witness:

A. SEBILIEN. 

